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The Difference Between a Career and a Job

A job is something you do simply to earn money; a career is a series of connected employment opportunities.

A job has minimal impact on your future work life, while a career provides experience and learning to fuel your future.

A job offers few networking opportunities, but a career is loaded with them.

When you work at a job, you should do the minimum without annoying the boss. When you’re in a career, you should go the extra mile, doing tasks beyond your minimum job description.

Though I agree with Trent on many things — our financial philosophies are very similar — I don’t agree with him on this. I believe that all jobs deserve your best effort, and I believe the distinction between a job and a career is artificial.

Doing my best
During the summer after my freshman year of college, I worked as a busboy at the Holiday Inn. I was the best busboy I could be. While the other guys stood around during slack times, I looked for ways to help in the kitchen or to prepare for the lunch rush.

As a result, I got better tips from the waitresses. The manager trained me to run the cash register. Sometimes I even got to help the pantry chef. I wasn’t looking for a career in food service, and I wasn’t trying to brown-nose. But I enjoyed the work and gave it all I had. This made the job fun, and earned respect from people who mattered: from my boss, and from his boss, the hotel manager.

Eventually I was given a chance to wait tables. Though I tried, I wasn’t particularly good with the morning breakfast crowd of businessmen and tourists. On the other hand, I was awesome at Sunday brunch. The bluehairs loved me. Before long, I was making more money working just six easy hours on Sunday than I had been while working 35 difficult hours during the rest of the week. And the busboys who used to stand around all the time were still standing around — doing the minimum (and earning the minimum).

Doing the minimum
Two years later, I had a work-study job with the campus Summer Events department. Every afternoon from four to five, after my boss had left for the day, it was my job to answer the phone. And that’s all I ever did. I never asked for more work. I never showed any enthusiasm for the job. I just answered the phone.

Another student covered the phone for an hour every morning. He, however, did more than he was asked. Much more.

Neither of us realized it at the time, but our boss had pull. As a result, the other student landed a plum job with the admissions office, but my own application to join residence life was denied. I found out later that my lack of initiative in that seemingly meaningless work-study job had played a significant role in the decision not to hire me. For better or worse, this changed my destiny.

Lessons learned
In my life, I’ve held a bewildering array of jobs. The two listed above are just representative examples. Few of my jobs have been related in the sense of a traditional “career”, but almost all of them have provided resources, skills, or connections that I could use in the future. I’m convinced that:

Every job is a part of your career. Some workers spend forty years in the same department at the same company. This is a career in the traditional sense of the word. But my father’s working life was also a career even though his jobs were largely unrelated: landscaper, flight instructor, box salesman. Your career is made up of all your jobs, whether they’re directly connected or not. Each one of them is important.

Every job provides skills and resources for the future. As much as I hated selling insurance door-to-door, that job taught me lessons that I can apply directly to work on Get Rich Slowly. I learned that it never hurts to ask. I learned how to deal with rejection and negative feedback. While working at the box factory, I learned how to communicate with a huge variety of people. My brief stint as a computer programmer helped me develop techniques I now use to focus while writing. Even my job as a busboy offered lessons about the value of hard work and a positive attitude.

Every job offers networking opportunities. You don’t know where life will lead you. You don’t know which co-workers or customers you will meet later and in what context. My brother Tony was our company’s box salesman for many years. Now he runs a firm that manufacturers nutritional supplements for animals. He’s constantly drawing on the network of contacts he made while at the box factory in order to gather information about manufacturing, shipping, packaging, and distribution. In many ways, a non-traditional career like Tony’s offers more opportunities to leverage relationships.

You should always do your best. Doing the minimum is rarely a good idea. Whether or not you think your current job is part of your career path, do your best. Do more than is asked of you. If you approach your work with a positive attitude, a willingness to learn, and a spirit of excellence, you will set yourself so far apart from your peers that your employers will be forced to take notice. It never hurts to do your best.

I’m not arguing that you should pour yourself into every job you ever have. But I do think you should treat most jobs as if they were important — because they are. They not only provide a source of immediate income, but it’s possible that they can lead to better things in the future.

The difference between a career and a job
Not all careers have a single unifying theme. Some careers are homogeneous, but many are not. My wife taught high school science for eight years — now she works in a lab doing analytical chemistry. I was a box salesman for fifteen years — now I’m a writer. For a decade, my friend Wayne sold cars — now he’s an accountant. Each of us has a career, even if the jobs do not seem to be related.

I think that for most people — whether they’re on a traditional career path or not — a job is just a way to earn money. There are people who love their work, but even then not all of them are in a career. For most people, work is simply a necessary evil.

So what’s the difference between a career and a job? I don’t believe there is one. A career is simply a lifetime of jobs, whether those jobs are related or not. And while it’s important to focus on your future goals, it’s even more important to focus on doing the best you can right now at your current job.

There are good jobs, and there are bad jobs. And then there are shitty jobs. You should strive to work only at good jobs. Sometimes you’ll have to endure bad in order to meet a greater goal. But you should never put up with a shitty job.

If you are miserable at work — whether because of your boss or your co-workers or the work itself, then find another job. Don’t burn your bridges, and don’t do anything rash, but slowly and methodically find a new place to work. In the meantime, do the minimum. You don’t have to love your job, but you should never let it ruin your life.

JD,
thanks so much for this great analysis, you hit all the reasons I disagreed with Trent but couldn’t explain.
Most important here is the attitude, how you approach a job and your career. Sure, waiting tables may not be on my resume and “rolling silverware in napkins” isn’t a career skill in my current field but the tenacity and reliablity I had meant something.
My dad went through lots of job changes, engineer, designer, small time construction worker, manager, all these seemingly unrelated jobs for over 20 years. Then at 45 years old he becomes a construction manager that relies on every skill and trade he’s done in his professional life. Had he sat back in any number of those jobs and just skated along he would not be qualified for the work he does now.
I think the job v career question has a tendency to encourage laziness or even entitlement. “I’m more important because this is my *career* the kid making minimum wage who files for me is just in a *job*” I’m a firm believer that if you don’t do what you love, or at least tolerate, then your job is to find what you do love. If you’re not willing to make the change to something better than it’s your job to be content and don’t whine.

Great post J.D. and some interesting comments. One of my first jobs was working part time as a cashier in a convenience store; to this day, I work in the industry (for a different company) aa a district manager. Had I treated this job like just a crappy part time job, I most likely wouldn’t be where I am now.

@K.R.
“I think the job v career question has a tendency to encourage laziness or even entitlement. “I’m more important because this is my *career* the kid making minimum wage who files for me is just in a *job*”

So true! When I was a manager of a convenience store, I would have some white collar customers (not many, but a few) that I could tell were looking down on me because I worked in a convenience store; especially if they didn’t know I was the manager. This was also true when I talked to people when I told them what I did for a living. I would laugh, because at that time, I probably made more after bonuses than most of them (and probably enjoyed my work more).

As someone who has had to work two jobs before to make ends meet, I always tried to treat the part time job with the same regard as the full time job. Why? Because I needed the money, otherwise I wouldn’t be there. I would be just as screwed if I got fired from that job as my full time job; either way I wouldn’t be able to pay the bills. In that regard, both jobs were equally important. In many instances, I enjoyed the part time job more than the full time job because it was free from the pressures of worrying about advancement, raises or office politics. I could just be myself and have fun. The only problem was that like some others upthread have said about their jobs, I was often pressured to work more hours than I wanted to, as I outperformed many of my co-workers that didn’t have the same mindset.

@Funny About Money’s question:

“In a job where you’re not paid equitably, how much effort really should you put in?”

To me, the answer is that you should put in as much effort that is required to do the job, no more no less. Often times, people confuse giving 100% and exceeding expectations. Giving 100% doesn’t necessarily mean working through vacations or working 18-hour days, but merely doing what is required of the job (giving 100% while you are there), as Funny sort of said later in her comment.

I try to think of any job I take as a verbal contract between me and my employer. I do work which they pay me for. Regardless of how much or how little I get paid, I agreed to the contract. Bottom line, if I think your pay isn’t fair, then I would be finding a job that pays better or shouldn’t have taken the job in the first place. But until either of us decides to end this contract and as long as the paychecks clear the bank, I owe it to them to fulfill my end of the bargain, regardless of how well I believe I am compensated.

While parts of it might sound like I disagree where she was going with the question, I agree totally. She was stressing out about her job and did something about it. Funny About Money couldn’t be more right when she said:

“When I decided to cut the stress level, I realized that we conflate our “careers” with our selves. A career is a job. A job exists to put food on the table and a roof over your head. It is not our self.

When you delete the distinction between “career” and “job” and you build a distinction between what you do and who you are, you gain a whole new perspective on the world of work”

Ultimately, as important as you think you may be to your company, chances are they existed before you and will do so without you. It’s just a job, even if it’s a “career”.

@Dave
I’m in a similar situation now, working full time at a job that will advance my career and part time at a job that helps pay the bills. Just last night my manager at the part time job complimented me on my attitude and work ethic. It’s easy to look down on people in a blue collar field because we’ve been trained to believe the CEO is important, the president of the company is important. But every single person in the company contributes to its success or failure.
To me it comes right back to attitude, I will thank and appreciate any worker who does their job well no matter how unimportant it may seem. I don’t respect job titles nor pay rates, I respect the people who earn those things or, absent earning them with merit, work to prove themselves with hard work.

Thanks for the post. I agree – work hard, work with excellence. I have had some of the best bosses I could ever imagine and great experiences and professional development because of working hard.

Unfortunately after a severe downsizing where I was I took a job that I thought would be great, but then had to resign from a job because of “integrity issues” or lack thereof within the organization.

I was able to do this because I had an emergency fund and knew that I could survive for a good while without a job if I needed to. I know…pretty much everyone would say don’t leave a job until you find the next, but the job was “sucking the life out of me” so I knew what I needed to do.

I can’t say it’s been easy. I think I was thinking in terms of “career” so being unemployed is really hard, but I’ve been able to wait it out finding a place that has integrity and works toward the things I value. Things are still being nailed down, but I should be starting soon.

Anyway – this job upcoming came through networking, which is possible, because I work hard!

Came across this article recently. I believe the distinction of a job vs. career is in the attitude, outlook, and motivation of the worker. I believe the author suggests this while still saying there is no distinction. Two people can work at the same job and one may be content to continue to do the same job forever or until it folds. The other may always be looking for more asking himself “How can I advance”, “What new skills can I learn”, “What MORE can I do”. Personally I have always had this attitude. I can’t imagine not moving forward in my work life, whether it is a related or unrelated job. If I was a dishwasher, I would next want to be head dishwasher, then be in charge of the kitchen, etc. I would take on new responsibilities without being asked (of course navigating for a promotion).

So I agree with the author to some degree. But just doing the best you can at a job is not enough to define a career. You must want to grow in related or unrelated jobs.

You are so right! I worked for a contracting company, me and my coworkers were happy; then like pawns on a chess board, some of us were forced to work for a different contractor (I say forced because the alternative was no job.),very much to my dismay, this guy should never have been given a contract…since we’ve worked for him, we are not happy, especially me, I won’t go into details about this guy. I have been looking for another place to work. Hopefully I’ll get something soon. But you are right.

I disagree. In the debate over career vs. job, you missed a big factor. I would ask: “What is the most important aspect in your life?” My work is only second to occasionally spending time with my children and grandchildren.

I come from a career-oriented family. My father, brother, and I have been about our work. My work is the axis of my life. I have had two businesses for the last twenty-five years. One career is in property management and the other career is a tailoring business. But, I have been on my own for the last thirty years. My children stayed with their father in the country when I moved back to the city. Building things is very important to me. It is a source of challenge, education, network connection, and personal reward. It has never been about the money. It is about how far I can go in my endeavors.

As I look at Ann Romney, her focus is her family. For Hillary Clinton it is about her career. To me the word “career” is defined by what is most important to you. Maybe it is your family, but it also may be your work. 4-2012

An career is a standardized line of work such as medicine, dentistry, law, educator, or pharmacist that requires highly specialized training.

A job – on the other hand – looks at the worker as a commodity. For example, when the economy is bad, companies will lay off workers and/or enact hiring freezes. The only purpose of a job is to keep a company/enterprise in business; if companies could run themselves, there would be no need for jobs. That is the difference between jobs and careers.

A “job” is a lower-level posiytion that offers few or no advancement prospects. Also, “job” is a general term for employment. A “career,” on the other hand, is usually a higher-level position or profession that, most importantly, offers advancement and significant internal promotion prospects.

I agree with the general notion that within every job you take on lives a great take-away.

My own personal view is a career is something that allows you to financially obtain independence while doing something you enjoy/are good at. Jobs can be fun (hey, I LOVED working at a local pizza joint when I was a teen because of the environment and people) but they seem to reside in the “scraping by” realm financially.

I’m technically in a career right now but I’m just not loving it. I had this realization that I’m never going to be happy in a cube doing the same thing day in and day out but I don’t know where to go from here. I could go back to school but without direction I do believe I’ll spend a lot of money to effectively wander aimlessly thru it and likely end up somewhere else I don’t want to be.

I do so wish the US had much more of an internship based education system for people to kind of feel out our choices more easily.

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